Speaking after Saturday’s win over Burnley, the club captain said of Jordan Ayew – who picked up both a goal and assist on what was his 200th appearance for Palace: “I think Jordan, at times, goes under the radar, but what he provides and what he does for his team is second to none.”
Ward was also full of praise for January arrival Daniel Muñoz, of whom he said: “Obviously, it's only been a couple of games, but I've enjoyed working with him so far.
“He offers a lot to the team. His enthusiasm, desire and commitment is second to none, so, obviously, I think he’s going to be a fan favourite going forward.”
The defender was part of a comprehensive display against Burnley, as Palace blew the Clarets away in the second-half in a 3-0 win – new manager Oliver Glasner’s first game in charge.
Ward said of the Austrian: “Obviously, he's only been in a few days. From the off, we were making sure that we had the togetherness, the desire, the confidence and belief to go out there and express ourselves.
“I think it's obviously going to take time to implement things. It always does after a change at the helm. But I think over the next couple of weeks, we'll be drilling things down in training.
“I think he's tweaked little bits here and there already and given us a bit more of a guidance on how he wants to shape up and do things, so I think he'll probably be adding to that over the next couple of weeks.
“I think there's certainly more to come in the coming weeks. You just go out there with that confidence and belief ,and he instils that in you and gives you that licence to go and enjoy yourself and, obviously, express yourself.
“We’ve obviously had brief conversations here and there, but there's so much going on over the first couple of weeks when someone comes in. I'm sure those times will happen. Right now, we've just obviously got to get the ground running and make sure that we perform on the pitch and start to execute what we want to execute.”
Ward returned from a lengthy absence in Palace’s 1-1 draw against Everton last week, starting at centre-back at both Goodison and Selhurst Park, and admitted: “Obviously, I've had a bit of time on the sidelines. It was nine weeks leading into the Everton game, where I hadn't played a huge amount of game, so it obviously takes its toll.
“You get a little bit fatigued towards the end of the games, but it's good to get those minutes under my belt. And [at full-time] he [Glasner] was just obviously congratulating me on that as well.
“For us now, we're just looking forward to the next game. We're going to keep that momentum going and we know that if we do that, we take care of ourselves and we can control what we do, then the rest will take care of itself.”